Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
An interesting mix of smart wordplay and generous definitions from Kcit made for a fairly speedy solve.… Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31023
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Over to you, dear reader, on Guess the Setter today. Thursdays used to be easy to predict, with RayT and Silvanus taking alternate weeks, but the devious crossword team at DT Towers now throw in different setters to keep us all on our toes.
I thought this was a cracking puzzle, but I have to confess to struggling initially with the parsing of 20a and 2d. This puts the puzzle firmly into 4* territory for me, but perhaps other more able solvers will disagree? There are two references to my favourite sport rugby (27a and 3d) – good timing as the Women’s Rugby World Cup approaches the QF stage. Ticks all over the place for me, but special mention must go to 23a, 2d, 4d and 19d. Which clues did you like?
Must dash. I’m helping out at a charity golf day today in aid of prostate cancer, a subject very close to my heart. Fingers crossed that the weather improves soon!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31022
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** Enjoyment ****
Quite tricky for a Wednesday I thought but very enjoyable. Did you spot all the senior officers running around?. Thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31022”
Sunday Toughie No 187 by Beam
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 24th of August 2025
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This puzzle was published on 24th August 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A superb and lovely puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3331 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3541 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Hello and welcome to another Toughie week. Your peripatetic Blogger finds himself in the delightful surroundings of Dumfries and Galloway, looking out over a small loch near Auchencairn and trying desperately not to lapse into Scottish cliches. … Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31021
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
I’m afraid you’ve got me twice this week, as I am filling in today for Huntsman who is golfing in Suffolk. I shall endeavour to maintain his high standards of blogging, but there won’t be any of his trademark musical clips to entertain you.
I am not very good at guessing the setter on my regular Thursday slot, so I am not even going to make an attempt here today. Over to you, dear solver.
I found this to be a very gentle Tuesday puzzle. I got slightly delayed in the SW corner but, in hindsight, there is nothing too difficult there. My joint CoDs are the very simple but elegant 26a and 25d.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Hello and welcome to autumn — or spring, depending on your hemisphere. Thank you to Falcon for covering for me last week when we were on holiday. And Happy Labour Day today to Falcon and everybody else in Canada — or indeed Bonne Fête du Travail, depending on where in Canada. And the same but without the ‘u’ for those in America.
We had a lovely week in Wells-next-the-Sea, on the north Norfolk coast. It’s the 8th time we’ve stayed there in 11 years, always in the same home. The familiarity makes it easy, I naïvely commented to a colleague. That was before we discovered our favourite animal park at Norfolk Lavender has closed; that our hosts no longer have a beach hut (which we’d enjoyed using on previous visits); and that on a day we’d turned up at the beach, the sea was closed — that’ll teach us not to be complacent and to plan and research properly next time!
Anyway on to today’s crossword. Hints and explanations for each clue are below, and you can use a Congratulations! You are today’s lucky clicker! blob to reveal the answer. Comments are welcome, especially from anybody new — don’t make me misidentify an antelope every time just to provoke newcomers to leave a message! Do read Big Dave’s etiquette guide.